Chain Adjustment Setting for New chain?

[xotoby]

just a quick one.

when I first got my bike the chain was loose and had to be tightened to the very last notch.
when it went in for service the mech put a new chain on, but the adjuster is still on that very last notch..

is it standard practice to reset it back to the loosest notch when putting a new chain on? (that would make sense).

and if so.. then I am going to assume the mechanic was a fuck.

[Aduro]

Did he change the sprockets at the same time? If not go and strangle him with your new chain. Sprockets and chain must be swapped as a matched set as they all wear a pattern into each other and putting a new chain on old sprockets will cause it to wear twice as quickly.
As for a new chain, it should be tightened to the point where there is about 2cm of movement up and down at the bottom of the chain underneath the swingarm. It should be within the green zone on the indicator sticker on the swingarm if you still have it.

[xotoby]

(25/03/2011 09:43)Aduro Wrote:  Did he change the sprockets at the same time? If not go and strangle him with your new chain. Sprockets and chain must be swapped as a matched set as they all wear a pattern into each other and putting a new chain on old sprockets will cause it to wear twice as quickly.
As for a new chain, it should be tightened to the point where there is about 2cm of movement up and down at the bottom of the chain underneath the swingarm. It should be within the green zone on the indicator sticker on the swingarm if you still have it.

no. no new sprockets.

someone at home organized for him to service the bike while I was out. (this was almost a year ago. how long should a chain last anyway?) it was a mobile mech that ended up charging $900.
didn't leave a card or an invoice, not even a writeup of what he actually did.
i should've strangled he at home who was stupid enough to allow such bullshit.

my swingarm has no such green sticker. however. near the axel bolt there is engravements. 5 lines.
mine is on the setting that has the wheel as far back as possible.

and on that note I have keep my chain lubed with silkolene chain gel every week and have noticed it has becoming loose now is what brought this to my attention.
and I cant tighten it now either >:\

guess I will buy new sprocks and chain soon.
good excuse for sprocket mod + koso gauge for speedo fix.

[Aduro]

Ahhhh, see you should get quite a few miles out of a chain IF its lubed correctly and periodically I'd estimate at least 10,000.
Also what a fucking retard the first thing that chain would have started doing was stretching and wearing as it worked itself to match the already shaped sprocket teeth. Before I put my new chain on I adjusted the wheel back towards the engine and measured the chain and fitted it so that I'd have at least three notches to play with as it stretched over time.
Prob best to change the chain and sprockets soonish, If you cant be arsed spending the cash and the chain has no tight spots, rust etc and seems in alright shape then take a link out of it if he didnt adjust the wheel back first.

[xotoby]

(25/03/2011 10:49)Aduro Wrote:  Ahhhh, see you should get quite a few miles out of a chain IF its lubed correctly and periodically I'd estimate at least 10,000.
Also what a fucking retard the first thing that chain would have started doing was stretching and wearing as it worked itself to match the already shaped sprocket teeth. Before I put my new chain on I adjusted the wheel back towards the engine and measured the chain and fitted it so that I'd have at least three notches to play with as it stretched over time.
Prob best to change the chain and sprockets soonish, If you cant be arsed spending the cash and the chain has no tight spots, rust etc and seems in alright shape then take a link out of it if he didnt adjust the wheel back first.

ive done about 7000km since chain change - chain is always lubed often - definitely no rust or anything either. but It is starting to stretch and become looser again.

thanks,
i think i'll fork out the cash for 14/53 sprocket mod while im at this.
sall good, just wanted to confirm whether it is standard practice to adjust the wheel back towards the engine when putting a new chain on, but guess I also learned that its standard practice to change the sprockets too eh?..

ahh well.

[xotoby]

picked a 14tooth front sprock and 520p 120l chain this morning - just waiting on an order for the rear 53 and delivery of kaneg stands then i will be able to fuck this chain off and wrap it around the neck of last mech.

[Aduro]

Its pretty simple to do yourself the hardest bits are taking links out of the new chain and pressing the link on at the end. Get yourself a chain breaker and press-fit tool, you will hate yourself loudly and violently if you dont. Also, front sprocket nut can be a cunt if you dont have a rattlegun or breaker bar.

[aj26]

maybe the mech left the chain too long? I remember having to take out about 3 links maybe he just left it and just did a dodgey?

[Trajik]

I have the same problem new chain and both sprockets but its still loose as the old shit all standar gears and chain 136 link

[TPS]

When putting on a new chain, you should always move the real wheel forwards quite away. However, before you slay the guy that did it...

The first time you do a chain yourself, you will notice that you can not ever actually remove just one link, you can only adjust the chain length in two-link increments. Thats because the chain needs to start and end with an inner link of chain, not an outer link. For this reason, all swing arms have enough adjustment to take up at least one 'tooth' of slack over the full range. So if you go one tooth down on the front, the rear wheel can be adjusted far enough back to make up for it without a new chain. But this leaves the wheel right back in the adjusters with the correct tension. In many cases, this cant be fixed by shortening the chain, as two links must be removed and the adjusters will only have enough adjustment to make up for one tooth.

Before you go chopping your chain, adjust the wheel fully forwards and you will see there is not enough adjustment to make up for two links. Because that is what you would have to take off.

Oh, and it is certainly not madatory to change the sprockets when you do a chain. It is a worn chain that wears the sprockets, not the other way round. If the sprockets have not substantially been flogged out, you can certainly replace just the chain without reducing the life of the new chain at all. This myth about changing sprockets eveytime the chain is done is just another way the workshop adds to your bill. Makes good business sense, not customer financial sense.

The optimum gearing that will give you the best rear wheel position is the gearing that came on the bike from the factory. The adjusters allow for pretty much any gearing combination but some are better than others as far as adjustment is concerned.